NaNoWriMo Ideas
by Ryalo
Summary: A bunch of random story starts. Most are original, a few are fanfiction. Mostly up just because.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Ok, I'm going to try to keep this short. These are my pitiful attempts at starting a NaNoWriMo. For the unfortunate uniformed, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. Participants attempt to write a 50k novel in the month of November. I've tried to do so twice now- my attention span won't stand for it. So I end up with several attempted starts instead of a comprehensive novel.

All of the chapters are going to be short and rough. I'm slowly going over them and editing them. May even try to continue a few. Enough with my rambling. I'm posting these to show/record how my writing style has changed. Feel free to criticize.

* * *

Twisting, turning, dancing with steely flashes of light. Blood splattered the ground, the silence only interrupted by their breathing and the abrupt clashing of their weapons.

A breathless laugh as one of the participants of this deadly dance fell to the ground and did not rise again.

"Serves you right you damn bastard."

The other fighter panted, looking around the wooded clearing at the various weapons scattered about.

"It's gonna take forever to find my poor kunai."

She kicked her fallen opponent, flipping the body over to see his face.

"Riki Sanote, age 26. User of a unique sword style he created himself called Youri Sen. Bounty of three hundred and fifty gold, wanted for accepting a contract to kill the Lord Koruka."

Kida crouched down, searching the corpse for anything of use. As expected, there was no personal objects. She pocketed the bag of gold, as well as the few remaining blades still concealed. There wasn't much else, as an assassin traveled rather lightly. Scanning the body one more time, Kida spotted a glint of metal hanging from a leather cord around the assassin's neck.

"Hey now, what's this?"

She pulled the cord up, revealing the object hanging from it. This ended up being an odd green gem that seemed to have smoke inside of it. She held it up, using the moon's light to see better and the smoke inside looked like it swirled.

"Nice sparkly. I think I'll keep it."

Having completed her search, Kida chopped off Riki's head with his own sword. She quickly stuffed it into a bag, tying the top tightly.  
Kida wandered around the clearing, searching out her various swords and knives that were scattered about. Soon enough, she had gathered them up and returned them to where they belonged.

"Well, that's that. Now let's see if I can't find a river around here to wash up some."

* * *

It was three days later when Kida finally arrived back at the castle. The guards, as always, gave her some trouble before allowing within the gates. She had been close to taking out a knife before one of the senior guards had recognized her.

While shape-shifting was quite useful at times, remembering exactly what you started out looking like was a challenge. One that she had never quite been able to complete. At the moment, she had slightly wavy dark blond hair cut off at her chin, odd golden eyes, and bronzed skin. She rather liked the look, feral and exotic. It made her feel like a predator.

It also had the effect of thoroughly unnerving the guards, which was always a plus. They were annoying, and their numbers were one of the things that prevented her from killing off the Lord Koruka.

Harboring these traitorous thoughts, Kida made her way through the castle, avoiding the servants as she went. It was no secret that she was here, in fact the news of her passing was usually a topic of much gossip. No one quite knew what to make of her, a female who never looked the same and didn't seem to have any reason to be at the castle.  
The best assassins aren't known, of course. Most assumed that she was a whore, or perhaps one of Lord Koruka's various lovers. Both were as far from the truth as possible.

"Ah, Kida. Your mission was a success then?"

Lord Koruka had found her as she wandered in the hallways near his rooms. Her eyes narrowed to slits like a cats', and she nodded stiffly.

"Of course. I retrieved the head."

At this she motioned to the bag in her hand. Lord Koruka crinkled his nose at the idea, but nodded none the less.

"Did you have any trouble dispatching him?"

The Lord repressed a shiver when the assassin grinned, her current look making it even more feral and dangerous than usual.

"Oh, he was such fun to play with. It almost made me want to let him get away so I could play again with him."

Sometimes he really wished that he didn't have to deal with her. However, she was too valuable to let her get away from him.

"He was a threat to my life, he needed to be eliminated. Missions are not to entertain you. Remember what you risk by disobeying me."

He was wandering into dangerous territory by mentioning the reason she obeyed him, but the girl needed to be reminded that he was in charge. After all, it would not do for an obviously unstable murderer to be wandering around.

Kida snarled at the reminder of her situation.

"I will get my star ball back, and when I do you will pay. I promise you this. And you should know, kitsune are bound by their promises. Even those half-kitsune."


	2. Chapter 2

The night was dark, clouds covering the stars and moon. The wind chilled the already cold winter night, the light blanket of snow gleaming whenever light reached it. The village was silent, the towns people having long since retreated into their homes to be warmed by their fires. A dark shape dashed across the snowy ground, leaving only slight imprints in it's wake.

"Why do we need to patrol the area anyways? There's never anything out here and ever if there was it's not like we care for the humans all that much. There will be more sooner or later. They multiple like rabbits, I swear."

The moon shone through the clouds, revealing the shape to be a silvery colored fox with three tails, female by her voice.

"I've told you this a million times. We patrol the area to show that it is ours. The humans have settled here, and as lower creatures they are under our protection."

A second fox, this one red with six tails, suddenly appeared beside the first fox.

"Lord Kuzan, who would want our territory though? Don't all of the kitsune left live in our territory?"

Lord Kuzan sighed before answering his young companion.

"There are more threats in this realm than just kitsune. But you are correct in thinking that all of the kitsune left live in our territory. However, not all threats come from the outside. That is why you must be cautious. As for who would want out territory, many would. There are other spirits that have lost their own territory, and humans are always trying to expand. That is why we have hidden our territory away from the rest of the world. You should do well to remember this, Nia."

The female looked suitably chastised, a rather odd look on a fox. The two approached the end of their territory, characterized by a sudden cliff. After a few minutes of looking around, they turned to begin back to where they came.

Neither noticed the strange glow in the mist below the cliffs that began only a few minutes later.

* * *

  
"Mamma, I'm bored." A little girl whined, watching her mother mending yet another pair of ripped pants. No doubt they were one of her brother's, since he was forever getting in some sort of trouble. Then again, most children in the village did.

"Dear child, if you are so bored then do something instead of whining about it."

A smile started to appear on the girl-child's face at the roundabout permission.

Seeing her daughter's expression, the mother frown lightly.

"No pranks." A pout immediately reappeared.

"But Mamma! There's nothing else to do, and Riko has been being mean to me. I wanted to get back at him."

"Sarna, you had best not be lying to me. Fine, you may pull a prank on your brother, but this is not to escalate into a prank war. Gods know we he have enough of those as it is with all the kitsune around!"

Sarna's mother attempted to keep a stern face, but a smile peeked through. It was hard to dislike pranks in a village protected by kitsune. You grew up playing pranks, and getting caught in pranks. It was a tradition, and a right of passage.

Sarna grinned, slightly enlarged canines showing clearly. She jumped to her feet and raced around the room, digging through drawers and baskets to find the needed materials for her prank. String, some scraps of fabric, an as of yet unmended shirt, and a handful of beads. She then plopped down onto the floor, spreading her collection out in front of her. Concentrating on an image in her mind, Sarna stared at her materials. They blurred before shifting to what she had in mind. There now lay a coil of thin string, a perfectly square piece of fabric, and a pile of sparkly confetti.

Carefully, Sarna piled the confetti in the middle of the fabric. To her dismay, it promptly turned back into a small pile of beads in a puff of blue smoke. Her cheeks puffed up indignation, Sarna spun around to face the door. As expected, her brother stood grinning smugly at her.

"No fair! You know I'm no good at transformation!" By this point, the child was more angry than anything. Her prank had been stopped before it had even started, and by the to-be victim to boot.

Riko just grinned at her anger, watching with amusement when tiny purple flames flickered into life around Sarna. Every single one had a frowning face on them. His little sister was so adorable when she was angry.

"Enough you two," their mother's cold voice swiftly ended Riko's entertainment. He frowned, already missing the light mood.

"Sarna, put those flames out right now. Riko, stop provoking your sister. If this continues then I will be forced to step in. Now, Riko I believe that your father was looking for you. Something about toads...?"

Riko recovered quickly from his sulking, snickering softly at the reminder of his latest prank.

"Yep! I managed to turn every rock down the street into polka-dotted toads. And nobody has managed to find my spell-anchor yet, so they can't turn them back. The toads keep turning up the oddest places."

Sarna just pouted again at the reminder of her brother's exceptional skills at transformation. It wasn't fair that he got such a cool specialty. She just got stupid fox fire... What use was a weapon specialty anyways? Their nation hadn't been involved in any sort of conflict since the pocket dimension was created. And that was over three hundred years ago.


	3. Chapter 3

Tiny wisps of some lingering breeze twisted about the small figure racing close to the ground, the air dancing about, seemingly clinging to the strange creature. Through the pale light cast by the stars and moon falling between the leaves, the figure, seeming like only a shadow, weaved. Side to side, left and right, avoiding trees and rocks while never slowing. A break in the trees revealed the shadow's identity. A silver, almost white, fox with three tails trailing behind stopped suddenly, ears perked. Its eyes scanned the trees surrounding it quickly, sweeping the area with its pale yellow gaze. In a moment, the creature sped off again into the trees, if possible faster than before.

There was an aura in the air, faint but there and quickly growing stronger. Bloodlust, rage, hatred, and fear mixed in the air, so strong that even the smallest creatures could feel it. Thus the entire forest was completely silent. Or at least everything was silent until the fox came closer to the source. The silence then disappeared, replaced by the furious roar of a much larger fox. A giant red fox with nine tails. The Kyubi no Kitsune. The roar escalated into a shrill screech, as a shinigami loomed over it menacingly. The death god reached through its summoner, the Yondaime, stealing his soul as payment for this deed. The demon was slowly sucked into a small baby with blue eyes and golden blond hair, the screeching fading by the moment. A final scream and the great biju was gone.

The silver fox arrived just to see the Kyubi no Kitsune disappear, a dead silence coming over the battlefield. The man who had defeated the great fox, still holding the babe that glowed red, tumbled towards the ground. At the last moment, he was caught by the tongue of the frog he had been riding. This large frog gently lowered his dead summoner to the ground before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. Leaf shinobi, those who were still in one piece, trickled like water to meet where their leader had fallen. None spoke a word as two of their own, both with white hair, picked up the now crying child and the dead man. They solemnly nodded to the two before dispersing to help their badly wounded comrades.

The silver fox watched this all from a distance, tails twitching with dismay. Ningen were stupid creatures, and this child that Kyubi-sama had been sealed into would no doubt be treated as a monster. This simply would not do, and yet there was little the fox could do. The Kitsune Clan was in turmoil after the disappearance of its leader, doing all it could to keep the other clans from finding out. So far, they had seceded but their luck would surely soon run out. It was a weakness they could not show, else be considered easy prey. Secretly, the best of trackers had been sent out to find their lord. There had been rumors of other lords having been summoned by ningen, but most assumed they were simply that. It seemed, however, that these rumors were true. Usually, Kyubi-sama was temperamental, but preferred his revenge by elaborate schemes and pranks. Truly the model image of a kitsune. He would never stoop to this level, simply destroying a village. Now there was a dilemma, for the seal had been made by a shinigami and could not be broken without killing the child. Demons treasured young, as conditions in the Makai were harsh and the number of young few. To kill young, no matter what the race, was a terrible deed. So their lord was sealed away, and the human child unable to live in the Makai for long without dying. Or at least not until Kyubi-sama made the human child's body able to use youki. In time, the child would adapt to the foreign chakra introduced into his body at such a young age, gradually making him more like a kitsune and less like a human. Perhaps enough to become a full kitsune.

The kitsune's ears perked with the thought. Now there was an idea, if the child was more like a kitsune later on, then perhaps with the power of Kyubi-sama he could become the new leader of the clan. But until then, the child had to be looked after and the clan would be unable to keep the secret much longer. War may break out, and the clan might be destroyed. Perhaps though, the clan could move to this realm for a time. Until this child had grown strong enough to protect the clan and lead it in the Makai. Ningen only saw what they wished, so they could easily make a large den here and perhaps start a village or even country of their own. They may even decide to stay in this realm, causing havoc and raising their young. Conditions here were much better than the Makai and more may survive. And the boy containing their lord could be raised as a kitsune. It was a sound plan, the only problems were convincing the council and retrieving the boy. After a moment of thought, the fox nodded to itself. The clan needed this information, the boy would have to survive for now. With a final, hesitating look at the way the retreating shinobi had gone with the boy, the fox turned and began running back into the forest. The shape of the fox became fainter and fainter, like a ghost, before fading into mist and blowing away as it departed from the Ningen realm.

* * *

"We can't just leave him there!"

A voice rang out of the chaos that was the Kitsune clan. With the news of their leaders imprisonment and capture, everyone at the meeting has broken out talking. They were frantic, and there was so many things that could go wrong. They had no leader, and their spies had reported that the other clans were starting to get suspicious about it. Arguments of multiple natures had sprung up everywhere, ranging from what they should do about their leader to why they should kill all the humans. You see, kitsune are usually laid-back, but once you anger them you want to be careful. Most kitsune would simply retaliate using pranks, or at worst a long term manipulation. Outright murder just didn't happen often, so everyone was confused about Kyubi's attack on the human village. The most likely idea so far was that for some reason the humans had been able to anger Kyubi enough for his bloodlust to take over. There were plenty of other rumors floating around, such as the one that said that their leader had sneaking off to meet with a female and that the village of ningens had killed this female off or the one where the ruler of the Kitsune clan had gotten drunk. Nobody really believed that one, as demons were pretty much immune to all poison and alcohol was considered poison by the body. In any case, the clan in chaos.

"Everyone shut up." This came from a forest green colored fox, his fur tinged with silver. Seven tails waved behind him elegantly as he sat and waited for his clan's attention. Slowly, the other kitsune quieted, looking to the seven tailed fox as well as the silver fox that sat nearby. The youngster was one of the best trackers in the clan, although still a bit young, and it was he who has brought back the news. The young three-tail was was obviously nervous about being the center of attention and was fidgeting slightly. His idea had seemed so obvious to him in the ningen realm, but in front of the rest of his clan it seemed stupid.

"Kasumi, as you all know, was the scout that witnessed the defeat and sealing of our leader. He also has said that he has some ideas in this matter." the green fox was speaking again. Taking a deep breath, the silver fox, now known as Kasumi, nodded his thanks to his elder before addressing the clan.

"My clan, I saw our great leader fall to the ningen and the ningen leader give up his life to defeat Kyubi-sama. He called forth the Shinigami to seal Kyubi-sama away inside a human baby."

At this there was quite a bit of muttering, as it was seen as crime to take innocent young onto the battlefield.

"From what little I have seen, the ningen that gave his live was greatly respected and there is no doubt in my mind that the child will be blamed for both his death and the attack. The child will be mistreated and hated. It is even possible that there may be attempts on his life, since ningen have such a fondness for killing and they care so little for their young."

Once again, there was much muttering, along with scowls. Young were to be treasured. "

As for us, the other clans will attack us soon, we all know that. I propose to the clan that we use our talents to make ourselves a village or even country in the ningen realm. Humans only see what they want, so we will have no problem with them. Also, the conditions are much less harsh and our young could be raised in relative peace. Kyubi-sama will not be content to dwell in a simple ningen. I believe that in time he will contact his container as well as change his DNA, which I am sure he has already begun. The child had three 'whiskers' on each cheek. This child will be able to be molded to be a kitsune, with Kyubi-sama's power and advice. I suggest we take him from the ningen village and raise him as one of our own. He will one day be powerful and will be fit to lead us. This is my thoughts on this matter, the decision is now up to you, my clan."

Kasumi finished, dipping his head to the crowd, who once again broke out in discussion.

The suggestion was sensible, although quite controversial. After all, demons had lived in the Makai for as long as anyone could remember, this being quite a substantial amount of time considering that a tail was gained for every hundred years a kitsune lived. Of course, there was only one nine-tailed kitsune in the clan. It was rare for any kitsune to reach the level of nine-tails, and those who did turned into demi-gods. They tended to go wandering of to look for more knowledge and adopted a sage-like personality. They always gave up after a while though, and ended up causing chaos wherever they went.


End file.
